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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359559">Forever and Always, My Baby You'll Be</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/InStarlightDreaming/pseuds/InStarlightDreaming'>InStarlightDreaming</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Nile goes home, Nile's family, Not Canon Compliant, fuck this "it's for the best" nonsense</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:21:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/InStarlightDreaming/pseuds/InStarlightDreaming</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>RIP to Booker's sons, but Nile's family is different.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>337</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Homecoming</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>To every person with loved ones deployed: May they come home safe again, whole in mind and body. In the words of my grandmother, "No Purple Hearts!"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nile knows that it’s for the best. Booker’s story—Booker’s betrayal—are stark examples of the dangers of staying attached to the past. And that’s what her family is now, the past. If Nile has any doubts, she buries them and insists to herself that her course of action is the correct one. <em>My family will mourn,</em> she repeats in her head, <em>but they’ll move on. Just like we did with my dad.</em> Andy’s bullet wound and Booker’s absence reinforce the lesson.</p>
<p>Her conviction lasts all of two months. Fucking CNN.</p>
<p>The team is in America for the first time since The Merrick Incident, hunting human traffickers in Kansas of all places. They’ve cleared the latest cell and are awaiting further info from Copley on the next target. Andy is sharpening her labrys in the dining area of the Extended Stay America they’ve holed up in, and Nicky and Joe are in the kitchen arguing playfully in some obscure Italian dialect regarding dinner. Nile thinks she hears something about chicken? They tell her the languages will come with time, and she’s too impatient, but they’ve all had centuries and she feels the lack of experience keenly. Nile is channel surfing, barely paying attention as she sits on the couch and thinks deep thoughts.</p>
<p>When she clicks the “up” button and it’s her picture on the screen, it doesn’t even register for a second. The Corporal Nile Freeman staring at her in dress blues above the CNN logo is a distant stranger. It’s not until her father’s picture appears on the screen next to hers that she makes a soft sound that’s almost a groan. She’s vaguely aware of Andy’s immediate fighting stance and the sound of guns cocking in the kitchen, but Nile’s gaze remains firmly fixed on the television. The news anchor’s voice sounds like it comes from very, very far away.</p>
<p>“Twenty seven-year-old Corporal Nile Freeman, who was killed in Afghanistan two months ago, was buried at Arlington yesterday. Her father, Master Sergeant James Freeman, was killed in action sixteen years ago in the same conflict…” A video appears of a funeral—no, <em>her funeral</em>—oh God, there’s her mother and her brother in the front, clutching each other—</p>
<p>The screen becomes blurry and disappears as Nile breaks down. In the background, “...the family returned to Chicago this morning and were unavailable for comment…” is replaced by Andy, Nicky, and Joe. The TV is turned off, and they sit and hold her as she cries herself out. Andy’s hand on the back of her neck, Nicky’s arms around her shoulders, Joe with his hand on her knee, doing their best to reassure her that they are here. They are witness to her pain, and they grieve with her.</p>
<p>They don’t understand. They can’t. Their family is each other and has been for centuries. She abandoned her family, abandoned them as surely as her brothers and sisters still deployed. Nile hears her mother’s whisper as they hugged for the last time on the tarmac. <em>“You come home, baby girl,”</em> her mother had said. <em>“You come home to us, you hear?”</em> <em>“I hear, Mama,”</em> Nile hears her past self say silently.</p>
<p>She’s on her feet suddenly, though she can’t remember standing up. On autopilot, she grabs the car keys and her wallet and is out the door before she can think. Then she’s in the car, driving, and it’s not until she’s on I35 East that she realizes what she’s doing. <em>I hear, Mama.</em> Nile is going home.</p>
<p>It’s a long, long drive from Wichita (ish) to the suburbs outside Chicago where her mom and brother live now. She spends most of it waiting for the phone call from the others, the Where are you or worse, the What are you doing, you know this is a bad idea. But there is no phone call, and as the hours tick by, Nile realizes they are letting her choose. They trust her to make the right decision.</p>
<p>God, Nile hopes they don’t hate her for this.</p>
<p>It’s 2am by the time Nile pulls up outside the house. Good. Hopefully, nobody will see the dead-and-buried war hero. (The bitterness in her thoughts surprises her, a little bit.) The yellow ribbon tied around the tree in the front sends a pang straight to her heart. The gold star above it makes her want to start crying again. Nile heads around the side, to another tree that extends to above the porch that wraps around to the left. From the porch, she can get to the lattice, and from the lattice she can reach her brother’s windowsill. She really, really hopes he still sleeps with his windows open. Nile glances up—<em>yep, called it</em>—and begins to climb. On the drive up, she imagined a million ways for this to go, everything from being hated to being rejected. Nile prayed and prayed and prayed that her family’s love will see this through. It has to. And if it doesn’t, hopefully Copley can erase any traces.</p>
<p>The nice thing about Basic is that you get really good at executing plans while being mentally terrified. Even as her doubts and fears well up, even as she thinks that maybe she should just drive away and go back to Kansas and pretend this didn’t happen, her fingers hit the windowsill and she pulls herself up.</p>
<p>She imagined a million ways for this to go, and none of them involved tripping over the ledge and falling into the room. <em>THUNK!</em> The sound is loud in the still darkness.</p>
<p>James, Jr. has always been a light sleeper. The “Oof” has barely passed Nile’s lips when he sits up and turns his face blindly in her direction, one hand groping for his glasses.</p>
<p>“Whoosere,” he slurs sleepily. He might be a light sleeper, but that doesn’t make him a fast waker. Nile takes a deep breath. <em>Please, God, let my family still love me. </em></p>
<p>“Jamie,” she whispers back to him. She’s always been the only one who could call him that. “I’m home.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Reunion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Jamie,” she whispers back to him. She’s always been the only one who could call him that. “I’m home.”</p><p>His hands have found the glasses, and he puts them on like he’s not sure if they’re real. He slowly clicks on the lamp, and golden light fills the room. </p><p>Brother and sister stare at each other in silence for a long moment.</p><p>“...Nile?” Her baby brother says her name like he’s afraid it will break.</p><p>She’s still crouched on the floor, she realizes. Nile straightens and starts to move towards him, only for James to flinch back hard enough to smack his head on the wall. It’s a smaller thunk than the one she made, but still loud enough to feel like a shout to her. Even through the pain of seeing her brother flinch from her, twenty three years of sibling instinct take over.</p><p>“Shhh! You’ll wake up Mom!” She wants to get James on her side first, gauge his reaction before facing her mother. Her brother is still staring at her.</p><p>“You’re dead,” he whispers hoarsely. </p><p> </p><p>“Only legally,” Nile replies softly. “I’m sorry, Jamie. I should have come home sooner. I missed you guys so much.” Her sight grows fuzzy for a moment as tears threaten, and she rubs the back of her hand across her face to clear her eyes.</p><p>“You’re really here,” James says in wonder. “You’re here. You’re <em> alive </em>—” His voice starts to rise as he gets up, and Nile shushes him again. </p><p>“Jamie, keep your voice <em> down </em>—” </p><p>The rest is lost as her brother envelopes her in a bear hug. He’s always been the gentler soul (she’d never say so, but sometimes Nicky reminds her of him). His hug says what he’s trying to choke out through tears— <em> we love you, we missed you, we mourned you </em>. Nile returns the hug and lets a few tears of her own leak onto his t-shirt. </p><p>They both freeze at the creak of a door opening down the hall.</p><p>“James?” their mother’s voice calls. “That you?” </p><p>“The light!” Nile hisses, and they both dive for it. Neither of them quite reach it, getting in each other’s way and somehow managing to knock the lamp off the nightstand. It crashes to the ground, and Nile <em> knows </em>that was louder than either thunk combined.</p><p>“Oh, <em> nice— </em>”</p><p>“—can barely see, why did you get in my way—”</p><p>“—<em> my room </em> , Nile, and <em> my fucking lamp </em>you just broke—”</p><p>“<em> I </em> broke?! <em> You </em> knocked it—”</p><p>The door flies open and the light clicks on as one voice overrides them both.</p><p>“It is 2 in the morning, James, what on earth—”</p><p>The siblings in unison turn guiltily towards their mother, who stands and looks at Nile like she’s seeing a ghost. One hand is still on the light switch. The thought flits through Nile’s mind that “like seeing a ghost” is less a simile and more a very real description of this situation. A ghost is exactly what her mother sees.</p><p>An eternity comes and goes as her mother stares, and stares, and stares. The silence is broken at last by James.</p><p><em> “Oooooooh, </em> Nile’s in <em> trou-ble!” </em>He half sings it under his breath, and Nile automatically gives him a big sister Look before Ariel Freeman, the strongest woman Nile knows, bursts into tears.</p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>It’s now 5am, and Nile thinks she’s done a pretty good job of explaining it all. Everything, from getting her throat cut on duty to Andy kidnapping her to meeting Nicky and Joe and Booker to the rescue to now. They’re sitting at the kitchen table while she talks. Her mother got up and angrily made coffee when Nile described dying for the first time, and Nile can’t help but wince when a cup is set down a little too hard in front of her during the description of the abandoned church. But it has cream and sugar just how she likes it, and it helps her get the rest of the story out. Her guilt at the people she killed, the knowledge of her new eternity, Booker’s grief and desperation and her fear of ending up like him… all of it is laid at her family’s feet. She describes her—unit? Squad? She can’t call them her new family or her mom might actually test out Nile’s claims of immortality—and tries to convey the good that they’ve done through the centuries. All the good that Nile can help achieve. </p><p>Her brother has listened with rapt attention this entire time, but Nile’s mother still won’t look her in the face. Nile feels like this is a bad sign.</p><p>“...and now Copley is going to help us,” she finishes. “He’ll help us hide, and find more people to help. Mama, I can do some real good with this.” Her last words are a plea, begging her mother to just <em> please look at me! Acknowledge me! Tell me you still love me! </em></p><p>Her mother’s gaze remains firmly on the table, hands curled around coffee that she hasn’t touched. Nile falls silent.</p><p>“Nile, this all sounds crazy,” her brother says. His eyes have been as wide as saucers for so long, Nile’s a little concerned they’re going to stick like that.</p><p>“You want proof? I can do that,” Nile replies diffidently. She keeps one eye on her mother as she pulls a knife from her boot and rolls up her sleeve. Before the blade comes down, however, her mother speaks.</p><p>“You are not bleeding on my nice clean table.” Her mother isn’t quite meeting her eyes, but she’s at least looking in Nile’s direction. Nile realizes her mother is staring at her throat as Ariel points to the counter. “Over the sink, young lady.”</p><p>Nile and her brother exchange a look as Nile replies, “Yes ma’am,” and dutifully goes to the sink. She slices a long gash up her arm, trying to hide her wince. Her mom and brother hiss in unison as blood pours, then slows, then stops. Nile turns on the faucet and washes the blood from her arm, then returns to the table to show her family the unmarked skin underneath. Her brother immediately pokes it. Her mother looks a little bit pale. </p><p>“Holy <em> fuck </em>,” Jamie says softly, then yelps as their mother smacks the back of his head. </p><p>“Not under my roof, you don’t,” she rebukes him sternly, then turns towards her daughter. “Nile, I don’t—”</p><p>Her words are cut off by a knock at the door.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Introductions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's the rest of it! I have some scenes in my head about how it all plays out over time, but I'm about to disappear into the wilderness for a bit so it might be a while.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The knock echoes down the hall to the kitchen, and the three Freemans freeze. Well, two Freemans freeze. Jamie, who has inhaled coffee in his startlement, is coughing. Ariel reaches over and thumps his back as Nile listens. The knock comes again, and her shoulders relax. Maybe it's only been two months, but that's two months of constantly being around each other. Nile knows what Nicky's knock sounds like now. </p><p>"And where one is, the other will follow," she mutters to herself. "It's Joe and Nicky," she says louder to her mom and brother. She looks at her mother. "Can I let them in?"</p><p>Her mom gives her a searching look but nods assent. Why is it always so hard to tell what she's thinking? Nile has no idea if she's really ok with all of this, or if she's just waiting for the right moment to snap. Nile sends up another prayer, another wordless plea for everything to work out, as she leaves the warm light of the kitchen down the dark hall to the door. She hears Ariel get up and follow. Jamie stays put. <em> Wise man, </em> Nile thinks. <em> I wouldn't want to get involved in this either. </em>Their mother has never had patience for those she thought were trying to lead her children astray. </p><p>At the door, Nicky gets another half knock in before Nile swings the door open. "Didn't your mama teach you patience?" she asks him as he almost knocks on her nose. </p><p>Nicky smiles cheerily at her (far too cheerily for 5:15am, in Nile's opinion). "Maybe. In my defense, it was a very long time ago." Joe chuckles from behind him, head on the swivel to scan the neighborhood for threats and one arm draped across his beloved's shoulders. Nile opens the door wider and beckons the two inside. She takes a deep, steadying breath. </p><p>"Nicky, Joe, this is my mother, Ariel Freeman," she says, stepping to the side and gesturing to the woman in question. "Mama, this is Nicoló di Genova and Yusuf Al-Kaysani, but you can call them Nicky and Joe." She looks behind the two. "Did, uh, Andy—?"</p><p>She stops herself mid-sentence at the sound of the window opening in the kitchen. Jamie's voice floats down the hall, "Uh, hi! You must be Andromache, right? You, um, know we have a back door?"</p><p>Nile whirls back to the two in front of her and fixes them with what she really hopes is an intimidating stare. "Tell me," she says slowly, "<em> tell me </em> Andy did not just flank me in my own mother's home."</p><p>Joe looks up at the ceiling innocently, his thumbs tucked in his pockets and his fingers tapping a staccato on his jeans. Nicky, at least, had the grace to look sheepish. He meets Nile's gaze and shrugs helplessly. Nile growls something incoherent and marches past her mother down the hall. Let Joe and Nicky deal with her mama on their own. "So, you two are the ones who met in the Crusades?" she hears her mother ask. Nile grins internally for a moment. If they missed the Inquisition the first time around, they're about to make up for it. </p><p>She bursts into the kitchen to see Andy and Jamie sitting at the table in silence. Andy has taken her place and is now sipping her coffee. Jamie's eyes are somehow even wider, and he looks like he is <em> dying </em> to start asking questions but isn't sure how to begin. He's drinking his coffee like he hopes the answer is at the bottom of his mug. </p><p>"Andy!" Nile snaps. "We have a <em> door." </em></p><p>"So your brother tells me," Andy says mildly. She looks at him and Nile swears he stops breathing for a second. "Jamie, right?"</p><p>Nile waits for him to tell her that it's <em> James </em>, thank you, but he just nods mutely. Nile resists the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose and instead just sighs. She manages to keep the sigh mostly internal, but Andy still looks faintly amused. </p><p>"Andy, this is my brother James. James, this is Andromache the Scythian. She goes by Andy." Her brother looks at her and opens his mouth, but Nile beats him to the punch. "Yes, that's her axe, yes she kills people with it, no she doesn't like people touching it."</p><p>Jamie gives her a look that would peel paint. "I was <em> going </em> ," he says with the wounded dignity of someone whose thoughts have just been read by his older sister, "to ask if she wanted her own cup of coffee. So she can stop drinking <em> yours </em> ." He sniffs as if to say, <em> And look what I get for thinking of you! </em></p><p>Andy looks outright amused now but replies gravely, "Yes, please. There's not enough sugar in this one."</p><p>"Did someone say coffee?" Joe asks pleadingly from the doorway behind Nile. She steps aside to let him and Nicky enter the kitchen, and Joe gives her a wink as he passes. Her mother follows them. Her face isn't <em> satisfied, </em> per say, but it certainly looks more relaxed than it did five minutes ago. Ariel looks thoughtful now, as opposed to… hostile? That's not quite the right word, but the only other one that comes to mind is grumpy. Grumpy, Nile feels, doesn't quite capture the depth of finding out that your recently-deceased daughter is in fact <em> not </em> deceased and has been gallivanting around the world with her new friends murdering people. People who deserved it, sure, but still. Whatever the word, her mother looks less likely to do something drastic. </p><p>That is, until her mother spots Andy. Their gazes lock, and the tension in the room is suddenly suffocating. The men stop their introductions. All heads turn to the Apex Predator Showdown. Nile's head knows that a 6,000-year-old warrior goddess will win versus the 53-year-old accountant, but her heart knows her Mama would kick the devil's own ass if he tried to take Ariel's children from her. </p><p>Andy moves first, standing up and stepping forward to put her hand out. "You must be Mrs. Freeman. I'm Andromache the Scythian. I've heard a lot about you; it's a pleasure to finally meet."</p><p>Nile exhales slowly. Round one to Andy. Her mother would rather die than be rude to a houseguest, even one that crawled in through the window. Nile ignores the fact that that's how <em> she </em> got in this morning, too.</p><p>Ariel shakes the offered hand, not breaking eye contact. "I've heard about you, too," she says slowly. "You're the one who told my baby girl not to come home." She folds her arms. The sentence lays between the two women like a boulder, a challenge. <em> Round two to Mom. </em></p><p>Andromache nods. "It's easier that way. Safer. Getting too attached can be dangerous." Her voice is carefully neutral. </p><p>Ariel's eyes narrow. "Easier." Her voice is dangerously flat. Nile and her brother exchange a worried look. <em> Is Mom going to kill her? </em> Jamie's face asks. <em> She technically can't? </em> Nile's tiny shrug and grimace reply. Jamie's eyes flick to their mom. <em> Does </em> she <em> know that? </em></p><p>"<em> Easier </em> ," Ariel repeats, her voice rising. "Easier for who? For my daughter, cut off from the people who love her? For us, who thought she was <em> dead </em>?" Her voice breaks on the last word. Tears spill down her cheeks. But Ariel Naomi Freeman is a Marine wife and a Marine mother, and she soldiers on. </p><p>"You let what some white boys said to their daddy <em> two hundred years ago </em> decide what was best for my daughter! You let that fear that <em> my girl </em> was going to end up like that Booker man--" The four immortals flinch, but she's not done "--that you filled her head with fear and convinced her that we wouldn't love her!" She's in Andy's face now, finger poking Andy's chest. Andy looks almost <em> bewildered </em>, like she's not quite sure how to respond. International terrorists and drug runners are no sweat, but Nile gets the feeling it's been a century or two since she's dealt with an angry mother. Nile suddenly has to smother a grin. Andromache the Scythian might be an ancient and powerful cave lion, but Ariel Freeman is pure 100% African honey badger. </p><p>Ariel hasn't slowed down. "She might be some sort of immortal unkillable God-knows-what now, but Nile is still my baby! She will always be my baby, and I will always love her! How <em> dare </em> you decide that I'll hate her or reject her or whatever it is you told her!" </p><p>Nile risks a glance at the others. James appears to have stopped breathing. Nicky and Joe, on the other hand, look like they're enjoying themselves. Nicky catches her confused expression and leans over to whisper, "We haven't seen Andy get a scolding like this since 1737. She was overdue." Andy's eyes flick towards Nicky like she heard him, and when Ariel next takes a breath, she raises her hands in surrender. </p><p>"Peace," she says. "I apologize." Ariel, about to speak, instead closes her mouth and watches Andy carefully. </p><p>"We were wrong," Andy says. "Clearly." She looks at Nile. "I'm glad Nile has people who care about her so deeply. I hope that the rest of us can live up to the standard that her family has set." Andy returns her attention to Ariel. "We will not make such a mistake again."</p><p>Ariel measures her for a few moments more, then nods sharply. "Very well, then," she responds. "So long as we understand each other." She takes a deep breath and turns to the kitchen counter. "Who takes what in their coffee?"</p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>It's 8:30am, and everyone is crammed around the small table in the kitchen eating breakfast. Joe and Nicky are regaling Jamie with wild tales of 14th century Spain. Ariel and Andy are discussing investments and financial planning for the 21st century. Nile is happy to watch both of her families interact and get to know each other. She does wish Booker could be here. She feels like it would do him good. Maybe in a couple decades, when the edge of Joe's anger has worn down a bit. </p><p>"...super easy to learn! Don't worry, Nile and I can show you!" Her brother's voice catches her attention, and she looks over. Her brother is grinning at her. "Super Mario Smash Brothers is <em> great. </em>"</p><p>Nile grins wickedly back at him. Nicky and Joe might be immortal soulmates and so in sync it's kind of creepy sometimes, but nobody beats the Freeman sibs at Smash Bros. <em> Nobody.  </em></p><p>The sun rises over Chicago, and another day of Nile's new life begins. It won't be easy, Nile knows, and Copley is sure to call soon with more information on the human trafficking ring, but for now? For now, Nile is content to relax in the presence of those who love her. Her past, her present, and her future, all together in harmony. Nile takes a sip of her coffee and jumps in to help her brother explain what the fuck a Kirby is.</p><p>It's going to be a good day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Booker</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm out of the wilderness! Thank you all so much for all your kind comments. I'm glad to know people like what I'm writing! I wrote this up quickly because I couldn't get the idea of Booker meeting her family out of my head, and how he would react.</p>
<p>I had to pick movie or comic canon for this one, so I used movie canon and just... stole comic plot? Canon is a buffet and I'm an omnivore.</p>
<p>Spoilers for the comic that may or may not be where they take the movie sequel</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s been one year since Nile’s reunion with her family, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>what a fucking year it’s been.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The others tell her this was unusually chaotic even for them, and there will be plenty of quiet years to balance it out. Thank God. Nile isn’t sure she can handle an eternity of years like this one. The human trafficking ring turned out to be headed by none other than Quynh, arisen from the deep. Rescuing Booker, then having to rescue Andy (both from Quynh and herself, to be perfectly honest)... Nile is absolutely exhausted. How many times, exactly, is she going to have to bust these people out of chains? She knows in a century or two she’ll be able to use this as good roasting material, but the wounds are still too fresh to joke about easily for now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only good thing about all of this has been Booker’s early return to the family fold. Andy is Andy, which in this case means she ignores Booker’s repeated apologies and simply tells him to do better. Joe hasn’t forgiven him fully and still makes the occasional biting remark. Nicky tries too hard sometimes to pretend he trusts Booker completely. Still, it’s better than knowing Booker is out there all alone. Nile’s overriding concern at this point is introducing him to her mom and brother. If she was worried about the others hating her, it’s nothing compared to the apprehension she feels now. Will Booker hate her for her family’s love? Will he hate her family for (so far at least) being what his wasn’t? She swallows nervously as she knocks on the door of her mother’s house. It’s in a new neighborhood, where nobody has met her and she can pretend to be a niece or cousin if anyone asks. (Still, given her photo was on the </span>
  <em>
    <span>national damn news</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she tries to avoid meeting any of the surrounding families.) Behind her, Booker shifts his weight from foot to foot. None of the others are here, and Nile made Andy promise not to climb in the window again. She’s still not sure if Andy knew that Nile went in Jamie’s window and was mocking her, or if Andy really is Just That Extra. Both options seem equally likely.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The door opens, and the sight of her mother’s face fills Nile’s heart. “Hey, Mama,” she says cheerfully, “I brought someone new for you to meet.” Ariel Freeman rolls her eyes affectionately and holds out her hand to Booker. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You must be Booker,” she tells him. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Booker flushes, and Nile knows it’s shame that reddens his cheeks. He shakes her hand and opens his mouth to say something, then closes it, then opens it again. “Yes, madame. Pleasure to meet you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come inside,” Ariel invites. “I’ve got some mac’n’cheese in the oven. Jamie will be home soon,” she throws over her shoulder as she leads them through the living room to the kitchen. “He’ll be glad to see you, Nile, we’ve barely heard from you for months.” Before Nile knows it, they’re seated at the table with mugs of tea, and she’s been thoroughly rebuked for her silence. Booker seems… off-kilter, like he’s an audience member of a play that has suddenly found himself onstage. He grips his mug tightly, and his eyes flicker back and forth between Nile and her mother as Nile gives a (very toned-down) description of events. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At some point, Booker goes to use the toilet, and sits back down with slightly reddened eyes as Nile finishes her tale. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...and that’s why I couldn’t really talk, Mama. With the resources she had, I didn’t want to risk her knowing about you— </span>
  <em>
    <span>che palle!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Booker’s return shifts the table right as Nile goes to put her mug down, and the mug crashes to the floor. Nile swears as she misses the catch and the mug shatters, Italian coming more easily to her tongue now after a year of tutoring.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nile, why is it that things break every time you come home?” Her mother sighs deeply and gets out the trash can. “And don’t make me wash your mouth out with soap.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Booker snorts softly. Nile complains, “Mama, you don’t even speak Italian!” as she and her mother pick up the pieces of ceramic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nile Nicole Freeman, I was not born yesterday. You keep a civil tongue in this house,” Ariel replies. Out of the corner of her eye, Nile sees Booker start slightly. He gets out of his chair and helps the women clean.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nicole,” he says softly. He says most things softly, these days. “That’s a French name.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nile and her mother exchange a look. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Ariel says. “It’s a family name. My grandmother was French; she and my grandfather met when he was fighting in the Second World War.” She speaks gently, as one would to a frightened animal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where in France was she from?” Booker asks, his accent thickening just a touch. They’re all like that, Nile has noticed. All of them sound more like their true selves when they remember their homes. Nicky’s English had been almost incomprehensible when Nile dragged the group through Genoa on their way to Rome, right before shit hit the fan with Quynh. (Now that she thinks about it, that might have been on purpose—a way to force her to use her Italian. Damn, he’s good.) Will she be like that some day? The last speaker of American English, some thousand years in the future? Nile shakes off these depressing thoughts and looks up to see Booker and Ariel in lively conversation about something in France. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here, come into the living room. I have some photos from where she grew up,” Ariel says as Nile breaks out the vacuum cleaner. Her mother had been there once, Nile remembers, to see where her grandmother came from. Nile’s mouth quirks up in a half smile as Booker says something in French and her mother goes, “Yes, that’s what it was called!” Booker looks alive in a way that Nile hasn’t seen… really ever? He had been full of silent grief when they first met, already locked into his betrayal, and he’s been quiet and shadow-like since they retrieved him from Quynh’s yacht, stoic in his suffering. Also, Nile is pretty sure, he doesn’t want to remind Joe of his presence. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Here, though, in her mother’s house in the suburbs of Chicago, Booker is allowed to be part of a family again. Maybe now, Nile hopes, he can work through his grief in a healthier way than a) alcohol or b) selling the group out to a sadistic pharma bro. She finishes her sweep of the kitchen and joins the two in the living room, where her mother has broken out the photo album. Booker catches her eye and smiles at her. There’s some sadness there still, but also peace. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The front door bangs open. “I’m hooooooooome,” Jamie sings out, one arm full of textbooks. His journey through college is a lot smoother now that he doesn’t have to take every other semester off to work. Nile chuckles a little at the memory of the other immortals’ insistence on funding his tuition. Andy can be a right bully when she wants to be, and Nicky is just as bad.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Jamie,” she calls out, and is rewarded when his face lights up. “Come meet Book.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jamie charges forward, a thousand questions already in his mouth. Nile grins and mouths “Good luck” to Booker before she returns to the kitchen to get herself another mug of tea. Andy is there, leaning against the counter. When Nile glares, she shrugs. “Hey, I promised no window. I used the door this time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In retrospect, Nile should really know better by now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good thinking, introducing him to your family,” Andy says, arms folded across her chest. “I think he’s needed this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s Nile’s turn to shrug. “I figured it would help him,” she replies as she gets herself a mug. “He needs a place to be himself without being constantly reminded of his past mistakes. It was either this or pay a therapist waaaay too much hush money.” She turns to Andy. “Want some tea?”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter 2 is started. Siblings will be siblings.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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